


Don't Let The Night End

by anniebibananie



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: 24 hours, Background Sansa/Theon - Freeform, Drummer!Gendry, F/M, Insomniacs, Modern Era, Texting, band au, one night
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-29
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2020-09-29 20:49:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20442308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anniebibananie/pseuds/anniebibananie
Summary: Somehow despite him being in a band with her sister, brother, and cousin, Arya has never met Winterfell’s drummer Gendry Waters. Now, the night before their band leaves for tour, Arya finally gets the opportunity…. and then some.





	Don't Let The Night End

**Author's Note:**

  * For [noos](https://archiveofourown.org/users/noos/gifts).

> happy birthday to [@bullheadedbastardblacksmith](http://bullheadedbastardblacksmith.tumblr.com/). reina has made the last few months of my life so wonderful, and i honestly think she deserves way more than just this fic but what can you do!! pls go tell her happy birthday!! and appreciate her!!
> 
> p.s. i need to do another edit of this but alas it goes into the void

**ARYA: ** hI why didn’t you tell me ur bandmate was hot

**SANSA** : which one

**ARYA** : sansa… pls… y are u like this

which one? Oh out of our brother, our cousin, you, and a stranger

y didn’t u tell me ur bandmate was hot i can NOT

**SANSA** : so this is about gendry then

**ARYA** : are you purposefully trying to kill me honestly just tell me

tell me you’re trying to send me to an early grave

**SANSA** : I have a feeling the whole “jumping from high things” situation will kill you before me being a dick will

**ARYA** : so you’re ADMITTING you’re being a dick

**SANSA** : babe, i have a concert to perform. U know, with the hot drummer you’re drooling over??

**ARYA** : I’m convinced he could palm my head like a basketball his hands are huge

**SANSA** : is that… a turn on for you?

**ARYA** : you know it’s not… NOT a turn on for me

**SANSA** : riveting

**ARYA** : don’t you have a show to be performing? You guys are like almost ten minutes late for your second set

**SANSA** : respectfully, fuck you

* * *

Honestly, if Arya had  _ known  _ Sansa’s drummer looked like that she would have come to band practice. Or any of their rehearsals, or the weird experimental show they’d done two weeks ago to practice out their set. Any of the random things Sansa had invited her to but Arya had been too busy (or too wary) to show up to. 

The point was, as a sister and best friend Arya thought Sansa probably should have informed her how absolutely, frustratingly  _ hot  _ Winterfell’s drummer Gendry Waters was. So Arya could have responded accordingly. 

Though, now that she thought about it, perhaps it was better that Arya didn’t have that knowledge working at the back of her head. Arya had only been watching him for the last forty minutes, and she had ran out of words to describe him. The thing was she usually barely  _ noticed.  _ Not girls, not boys. She knew what attractive was, hell she’d grown up being compared to Sansa, but it was that she simply didn’t  _ care _ . 

Yet somehow Gendry had reached a hand down her throat and pulled the air right out of her lungs. He was tall and broad with dark hair that was long enough to dangle onto his sweaty forehead but not much else. His hands  _ were  _ huge, and they dwarfed the drumsticks he swung with a fervor that did not diminish the skill of his performance. When he was concentrating, really truly concentrating, Arya could see his tongue peek out the corner of his mouth and his eyes narrow like he could only stand to look at a single thing or he’d lose focus. 

“They’re like…  _ really  _ good, huh?” Theon offered her another beer. 

Not only had she not noticed that she’d finished hers, the now empty plastic cup crunching in her hand, but she also hadn’t fully noticed the show had come to a close. She’d been too concentrated on the way his biceps bulged during the bridge of the last song to properly notice anything else, she guessed. 

Did other people… function? Thinking like this all the time? Noticing people around them with such precision? God, Arya was so happy she’d been oblivious to people most of her life. She would have never had time to get anything done. 

“Theon.” Arya placed her new beer-filled cup into the empty one and took a sip, all the while leveling him with a gaze. “You go to every practice. Every show. You are the definition of a supportive boyfriend. Why do you sound  _ surprised? _ ” 

His eyes darted back to the stage where the band was jumping down onto the main floor, stopping to say thanks for attending and making small talk. Gendry was a whole head taller than everybody else, holy  _ fuck _ . 

“Every time I watch your sister I’m reminded she’s amazing. It’s inevitable.” He ran a hand through his sweaty, curly hair and it sprung into a million more directions. Theon always looked the definition of a hot mess. Tonight he was wearing one of the original band t-shirts all of them had stuffed into the Stark garage space to make, ink dotting all of their fingers for nearly weeks afterward, with a pair of dark jeans. Both had holes. Neither fit quite right. 

“And what is she doing with you, again?” Arya asked. 

Theon shook his head, not even bothering to get  _ offended  _ by the comment. “Don’t ask her. She’ll wake up from the hypnotic state I’ve put her into.” 

“Honestly it’s the only thing that makes sense.” Arya shrugged as she pushed a strand of hair behind her ears, watching the crowd filter out around her. 

* * *

Here was what Arya learned about Gendry within the first five minutes of meeting him: 

He was always drumming even when he wasn’t. His hands tapped against his thighs, his drink, the bartop. It was like he was practicing the movements, though that wasn’t quite right because Arya wasn’t sure he actually knew he was doing it. More like it was intrinsic to his body, and he never learned how to stop. 

Mostly, he stayed silent, but he was incredibly readable. It seemed like his eyes trailed the scene, watching and listening and paying attention, but his face was a fucking road map to his opinions. He raised his brows and twisted his lips and rolled his eyes. Transparent. 

One time he got so high he apparently forgot how to use a fork. This she packed dutifully away to bring back at a moment’s notice later because it was  _ hilarious _ , and she never wanted to forget the embarrassed chuckle and resigned look he had let loose when Robb mentioned it. 

“So, what do you do?” he asked after the story wandered off, and so did Robb and Theon as they went to get another drink. 

She scrunched her nose, ignoring the fact that she had to tilt her head up at such a disastrously uncomfortable angle to see him. “Don’t do that.” 

“What?” He looked affronted. It was actually quite a good look on him. “I’ve only spoken five words to you.” 

“Don’t get  _ boring _ ,” she replied, waving her hand around his body. “You’re too hot to be boring. Actually, most hot people  _ are  _ boring, I guess. Maybe you’re practically proportionate in your hot to boring ratio.” 

His lips were curving up slowly, dangerously. “You think I’m hot?” 

“I think you’re an idiot,” she flung back as quickly as the words sprung to her lips. 

His grin widened. “They aren’t actually mutually exclusive.” 

“Ooo,” she continued, widening her eyes in faux-attention. “Mutually exclusive. Pretty big words. Maybe you’re  _ not  _ an idiot.” 

“Pretty average words for anyone who passed a basic probability course. I’m presuming you did? Or were you too busy jumping from high things?” 

Her eyes widened, and she stepped closer to hit his upper arm. Holy  _ fuck  _ it was sturdy. “Fuck  _ off.  _ You  _ do  _ know who I am.” 

“I had a good idea but as soon as you started yelling at me for no reason it was easily cemented,” Gendry replied. 

“I resent that.” She tapped a finger against her cheek. “I also happen to resent the fact that everyone goes about thinking I just… jump off high things like an excitable kitten. I skydive. I take people skydiving for a  _ living. _ ” 

“See, you could have went there right away and we would have skipped all the unnecessary arguing in the middle.” His head was tilted, and when he brought his bottle up to his lips to finish off his beer she watched the bob of his throat. 

Even that was somehow hot. He was extremely good looking. Maybe she just really needed to get laid. Probably both. They weren’t  _ mutually exclusive  _ after all. 

“The arguing is the fun bit,” Arya replied. 

“You’re right,” he said with a grave nod. “Otherwise we never would have discovered how hot you find me.” 

“Idiot, hot, doesn’t know how to use a fork…” she ticked them off on her fingers as said them, scrunching her brows together as she met his eyes again. “Anything else I should know?” 

He licked his lips. “Yeah. Maybe another thing or two.” 

Arya thought that might be a come on. She wasn’t actually sure she’d ever  _ been  _ flirted with in this way—direct and warm and on the edge of dangerous. Like she knew she’d get in trouble when she snuck back into her bedroom window from the tree outside and her parents would catch her, but the night would be too good to feel sorry about in the morning even with the punishment hanging over her head.

“Well,” she said, wetting her own lips before downing the rest of her drink. “Let’s see about that.” 

* * *

“We leave for tour in the morning,” Sansa called after them as Arya picked her black, denim jacket up from the bar. 

Arya had sort of forgot about that in the whirlwind of everything. Winterfell once upon a time had been nothing more than a pipe dream. Then Spotify had put a few of their songs onto trending playlists. Then more local gigs. Then a growing fanbase. Now,  _ tomorrow to be exact,  _ a first tour. 

Arya flipped her off. “Got it, mom. I promise to return him before curfew, chastity in tact.” 

Theon waved his hand. “We don’t give a shit about the chastity part, just the curfew. Don’t mess this up for my girlfriend, Stark.” 

Her sickly sweet smile spread in the bigest fuck you she could manage. “I think you mean my  _ sister _ , Theon. I won’t ruin this for my  _ sister _ . Unlike you, who is ruining her life by existing anywhere near it.” 

Gendry looked between the two of them. “Do you… is this for real?” 

Theon snorted out a laugh as Sansa leaned into his side. “Nah. Arya’s a pain in my ass. I’m a thorn in her side. It’s how we show we love each other.” He did spirit fingers, as if that wasn’t going to annoy Arya more. 

She grabbed onto Gendry’s arm and tugged him away. “Please leave the clown to his clown shoes… I can not stare upon the makeup any longer. He speaks only delusions.” 

“Treat my baby, right!” He called after them with a flare of drama, the tinge of a southern accent on the edge of his phrase for effect. 

“Is he talking about you or me?” Gendry asked in a whisper which meant dipping close to her ear and her feeling the warmth of his breath and she was so fine really—

Arya shook her head. “No fucking idea.” 

* * *

“I have to say…” Gendry trailed off, his tongue peeking out the corner in concentration  _ again  _ as he pulled the lever for the blue raspberry slushie flavor. “When you said  _ let’s see about that _ didn’t exactly think the things you planned on doing with me tonight involved 7/11 slushies.” 

She scoffed. “Everything should involve 7/11 slushies. The best foreplay.” She raised an eyebrow, wondering if he was going to back away under the forward look and even more forward words. She wasn’t trying to  _ purposefully  _ make him uncomfortable, it was just more that… she wasn’t sure. She wanted to see if she was right that there was a tension there, that he’d been insinuating something all night, too. 

“Foreplay?” he asked. For the first time all night his face seemed unreadable. “Is getting slushies always particularly sexual to you?” 

She shrugged, didn’t give in. 

He set his half-poured slushie down onto the counter and leaned his hip against it. Except he was too  _ tall  _ so his hip was actually a little too high to lean it and it came out looking more like a slump. “What do you want from me, Arya?” 

“What should I want?” God, if she was him she would  _ hate  _ her refusal to answer anything. Absolutely infuriating. “You leave in the morning, Gendry.” 

He shrugged. It was simple. Straightforward. No drama or pretense or– or– fucking  _ games _ , just Gendry. Honesty. “Then I want tonight.” 

Her heart was in her throat, honest to god, the pounding so loud she couldn’t think of another freaking word. She swallowed, and her breathing leveled out and his eyes were still so  _ bright,  _ weren't they? Yet, somehow dark enough to get lost in, to wrap yourself up with. 

She swallowed. She held out her open palm. “Tonight is all yours.” 

His hand really was huge enough to palm her face, she thought as he took it to shake. She hadn’t been wrong in the least about that. 

* * *

They were in Arya’s car which was short and squat because she’d pretty much just picked something driveable when she finally  _ needed  _ a car (in a family as big as hers there was almost always someone around to offer a lift, or steal a car off of). Gendry looked massive in the passenger seat. She almost felt bad about it, but also she didn’t at all because it was hilarious. Man, one of these days she’d really try to work on being a better person. 

“So…” he trailed off, bringing the straw of his slushie back up to his lips. There was something naive, almost childlike, about the gesture that made her want to wrap him in a soft, warm blanket. 

She raised a brow at him, veering into the right lane. His hand shot up to the handle above the door. “So?” she replied. 

“I was going to ask where the hell we’re going, but then I realized I should be more concerned about whether I’m going to even  _ make  _ it there.” 

“That,” Arya said as she realized she had, in fact, forgotten her blinker yet again and hurriedly checked over her shoulder, “is plain rude.” 

“It’s almost past midnight, and we’ve already gone to a Seven Eleven. Unless we’re going to  _ another  _ Seven Eleven or a… I don’t know, what is also open late? Like, a Denny’s or something? Well, unless we’re going to one of those I don’t know where the hell we could be going.” 

They were at a stop light, and Arya turned slightly in her seat to see him. She placed her hands on his shoulders.  _ Damn,  _ they were nice shoulders. Strong and sturdy. “I suggest you let yourself experience the night as it comes.”

Gendry nodded sagely. “I suggest you drive because the light turned green.” 

She jolted up, eyes widening slightly. “Fuck,” she said, the word percussive in the space. 

His laugh was  _ too _ —too much, too bright, too loud and echoing and warm. It slammed into her from the side, and her own laughter joined his, and this car was too small, wasn’t it? Too small for all the thoughts about Gendry she was having, and too small for all that he was. Not just the size, but all that he brought to the table. 

She’d only known him a handful of hours. He would leave in a handful of more. What she really needed, was to get a fucking grip. 

* * *

“You’re taking me to  _ Walmart?”  _ Despite the fact that he looked anything but impressed, he was still following her dutifully toward the big, bright Walmart front. 

“It’s a 24/7 Walmart. Have you ever  _ been  _ to a Walmart Superstore past midnight?” She grabbed a wayward shopping cart near the door and propped a foot on the lower bar as she pushed with her other to ride it through the automatic doors. 

“Why would I?” he asked. “Are you frequenting Walmarts at odd hours?” 

She popped both of her feet back to the floor, and she walked normally again with him by her side. “I’m this super fun thing called an insomniac. I barely ever sleep.” 

Gendry narrowed his eyes at her. “Huh.” 

She rolled her own in response. “Yeah. Huh.” 

“You would be perfect for the road life. Why aren’t you coming on tour with us?” 

Arya paused as the question filled the air between them. It was valid. How easy would it be for her to join them on tour and bop around the country? Theon was doing it, leaving the bar to Yara for the next few months and joining Sansa on the road. It was her whole family, really, on the road without her. Why would she stay at home? 

“I get car sick,” she said with a shrug, pushing the cart further whether he’d follow or not. The overhead fluorescent lights seemed to make everything yellow and washed out. Arya sort of thought she liked Walmart at night, despite it being the strangest fucking thing ever and therefore interesting, because you could be just about anywhere. It was one of many. Industrial. Average. No one gave a flying fuck who you were. 

“The way you drive? I find that unlikely.” He appeared back by her side, keeping his legs moving easily to her slightly quickened pace. Then without warning he was snapping his hand out and grabbing the cart. The wheels stopped with a high squeak. 

Her eyes were fire when they turned to his. “And what do you think you’re doing?” 

He shrugged, eyes searching her face. It made her feel tugged open, and she hated it. “If we only have one night let’s not waste it.” 

She narrowed her eyes, sized him up to see if he would give, before sighing. He made a point. Gendry was hot—big and strong and broad. He seemed caring—current situation as evidence, and he seemed the sort that understood struggle and was unable to stop himself from wanting others to avoid that same suffering. But none of that actually mattered. Not in the long term, at least. 

They had one night. Why not lean into it? 

Her face must have softened because his hand came up from the cart, and when she started pushing down the aisle again he fell in step with her. “I was gone for a long time,” Arya said. 

Gendry didn’t say anything. Arya was grateful because she  _ hated  _ this. She hated feeling like she was spilling her guts or letting someone see anything past what was on her outside. On the outside she was sharp, pressed against the whetstone long enough to slice with a fatal blow. On the inside it was blood and guts, vulnerable and soft, inviting someone to stab you right where you’re most vulnerable. At the end of it, the whole thing only your fault. 

“I just got back to having roots somewhere, I guess. I was traveling for years. Sometimes my siblings barely knew where I was, but now that I’m back and I think I need to be back. Not sure if I’ll be able to tame that desire to slip away into nothing in some big city and be no one if I don’t let the roots settle a bit longer.” 

“Was that what it was about? Being no one?” 

She dared a look at his face, and she could step right into that open, dumb look of his. His eyes caring and inquisitive. It was an invitation to intimacy, not the type she had planned originally when she’d whisked him off but intimacy all the same. The one she always found more dangerous, too. 

“You don’t ever get tired of being who you are?” she asked as she turned the cart down the cereal aisle. She reached for a box of something sugary and tossed it in. 

He shrugged and paused in front of the candy at the end of the aisle. His hand flickered out, fingers reaching, as if he was thinking about grabbing something before they fell back to his side. His face was concentrating too hard, and Arya couldn’t resist trying to soak in every second. He was a crossword and she knew the first two letters, and she knew the second to last, but goddamnit she couldn’t fit in the rest. 

“I always wanted to be more of a someone,” he said. “My mom never told me who my dad was, and I didn’t have either of their last names. She gave me something else, said I would end up being my own person in this world so I might as well get a clean slate from the beginning.”

“Being someone always seemed like a noose around the neck to me,” Arya replied. She reached forward and grabbed a bag of skittles, tossing it from palm to palm, before putting it back and grabbing twizzlers instead. “Too many people you can hurt.” 

“Isn’t that kind of the point?” Gendry asked. Arya raised a brow, and he huffed out a chuckle. “Not to hurt people. Like, if you can hurt someone it means you love them, right? And they love you? What else is there?” 

_ What else is there.  _ Arya couldn’t argue with that. It had just felt for so long like she was sharp on all edges, that all she knew how to do was cut and it hurt everyone around her. Her sharp words and sullen moods after her parents passed made it harder for everyone, so she cut last one time and ran. She ran so far she could forget problems existed for a while, but they were still there. They were always there. 

She was lost in thought over that one, but then she felt Gendry’s hand slide over her own. His fingers interlaced within hers, grasping tight. His palm—calloused and warm—keeping her tethered to the ground. When she looked up at his gaze he was giving her a dangerous smile. Dangerous because it was soft, and soft meant it was easier to drive the knife right in, but  _ what else is there.  _ She took a deep breath. 

“You know, I was just going to fuck you. Fuck you, forget you, let you go off to tour. Maybe awkwardly engage in small talk when you’re all back.” 

Gendry laughed. “We still have hours left, Arya. Don’t discount the possibility of us still having stilted small talk in the future.” He paused, and when she snorted out a laugh his face split into a smile. “Now, please don’t tell me we came here just so you can grocery shop. Can’t we like… go play with toys?” 

Arya’s returning smile was all mischief. “Want to go to the bike aisle and try them out?” 

He snapped. “Finally a good idea from you.” 

She flipped him off. He took the cart from her hands and started running down the aisle, hopping up on the bar like she had before and riding it with a smooth cruise. 

“Hey! I’m tinier!” 

“Not my problem,” he called over his shoulder, laughing as she ran to catch up. 

* * *

“Why music? Why drums?” Arya asked, repositioning her legs to dangle over the edge of the cart. She’d pushed the cereal and candy to the side so she could sit easily enough, though it wasn’t the most comfortable spot she’d ever sat. The twizzler bag was already open, and she reached in to grab two out and take a bite. 

Gendry rode a bike that was without a doubt too small for him up and down the aisle, trying to make it jump and mostly falling off with varying degrees of success. It was a little past one in the morning, and Arya was enjoying herself. Usually when she couldn’t sleep she wandered alone. Tonight, she had Gendry. 

“I like music,” he said with a shrug. 

“Fuck you!” she called cheerily through a mouthful of twizzlers. “What happened to we only have tonight?” 

Arya wasn’t sure exactly what move Gendry was attempting on the bike, but one second it looked like he was jumping up and swinging the bike, and the next he fell with a clatter of twisting limbs and still spinning bike wheels. She flung a hand to her mouth, ignoring the instant desire to snort, and clambered her way out of the cart as best she could. Forgetting she was in a cart on  _ wheels,  _ she stumbled when her feet landed back on the linoleum. 

“Fuck  _ me _ ,” she cursed, trying to regain balance. A sharp laugh escaped her lips, and when she looked down she saw Gendry looking just as much a combination of amused and startled as she was. 

“Maybe we’ve worn out Walmart’s welcome?” Gendry suggested. Arya grabbed the bike off of him, and he pushed up to his knees. “Fuck, I think I really hit my shin on that one.” 

“Honestly surprised you didn’t hurt yourself worse,” she replied. “Should we stop in the first-aid section?” 

He looked up pathetically from his position now sitting on his heels and gave her a withering stare. “You’re the worst.” 

Her smile spread wider. “I’ve been told. Come on.” She held out her hands in an offer of help up.

“This is stupid,” he answered, though he took her hands, anyways. It was like trying to lift a bag of boulders as she hefted him back to standing. She put a little extra muscle into it and yanked him the last bit. “You’re strong for being so tiny.” 

“My strength is compounded by my near constant rage,” she answered deadpan. “Now, can we get out of the fucking Walmart? It’s only the second stop.” 

“How many stops are there?” 

“That would ruin the surprise. Let’s go.” When she paused to look at him, there were signs of tiredness. His eyes were blinking a bit slower, his body a bit more languid. If she wasn’t selfish maybe she would tell him he could go home and rest. 

The tour was in front of him, and the next few months would  _ change  _ things for the whole band. Arya had a fear that they would come back different, and she was pretty sure it was inevitable. They were  _ good,  _ always had been, but now they were going to blow up bigger than ever. They’d be tired, and they’d be happy, but they’d be busy. They’d be encrusted in a life they’d always wanted. 

Maybe that was something you deserved a night of sleep before. 

But also, maybe, you deserved one last night of… nothing. Of a rare, chance encounter that might not happen again. Fuck, Arya  _ liked  _ Gendry. She wished almost that he wasn’t leaving so she could show him all of her spots, but what if this was only because it  _ was  _ one night? The novelty of it would wear off. 

Arya had seen it before. People thinking she was interesting cause she wore dark clothes and knew how to fight and seemed to not give a fuck in regards to just about anything, but then when it was washed away it was still her. Just the insecurities and neurosis and her inability to sleep a full night. 

If she took away the sporadic, one-night-only filter of this interaction, would Gendry still care? Would Arya?

She wanted to say she would. It had only been  _ four hours _ , how could she possibly know? It was one night. Lean in, lean in,  _ lean in,  _ she reminded herself. 

“Get the cart. Come on,” she said, pushing her hands into her jacket pockets so she wouldn’t do something stupid like try to hold his hand again. 

_ Remember when you thought you’d just fuck him? Good luck with that.  _ Her inner voice was a real bitch, sometimes. 

“Where to next?” he asked, picking up his pace and falling into stride next to her. 

The smile over her shoulder was more of a smirk. “You’ll just have to see.” 

* * *

Gendry was squished into the passenger seat again, trying to give his legs space to spread out. The window was half open, letting in streams of fresh nighttime air. The road in front of her was black except for the few occasional spots of outdated street lamps trying to fight to give off light. 

“I was shit at school,” Gendry said. “My mom thought music might help. It didn’t make me any better at school, but I got pretty good at the drums.” 

“Pretty good,” she scoffed. “Yeah, pretty good is for a preteen who’s beginning to learn and still takes lessons. You’re in a popular band who’s going to be famous by the year’s out. I think you can shake off the modesty.” 

His head turned fully toward her, resting on the headrest and smiling at her in a way… it made her feel weak, honestly. Large and dopey and warm. Like a sweater with too-long arms that went past your wrists so you could tuck them carefully into your palms. Arya didn’t know how to handle someone looking at her like that. 

“That’s the nicest thing you’ve said to me.” 

She narrowed her eyes. “I called you hot earlier.” 

“Followed by calling me an idiot.” 

“Thought they weren’t  _ mutually  _ exclusive. You can be both. Hold those truths in the palms of your hands and all that.” She hit her blinker, trying to be smoother with her turn than she normally was as to not dislodge the moment. 

She puffed out a breath that made her bangs fly off her forehead before settling again. “You know, my parents put me into a bunch of classes to help with my aggression,” Arya replied after a moment of silence. “Karate and boxing and krav maga. For a few years I was constantly being shuffled between them.” 

“Did it help?” he asked, genuine curiosity evident in his voice.

She shrugged. “Nah. Just got better at fighting  _ with  _ my aggression.” 

He laughed, head thrown back. Arya watched the long stretch of his neck and wanted to bite right into it. She also wanted to tuck her head into the slope of his shoulder, smell what it felt like to be that close to him, feel the warmth. 

_ Fucked, fucked, you’re so fucked,  _ repeated like a mantra over and over again in her head. 

* * *

“This is a laundromat.” 

“You’re so good at naming locations,” Arya said, clicking her keys to lock the car and crossing the parking lot. “Maybe you should give up this whole band business and achieve your true calling. Stating the obvious.” 

“Why are we at a laundromat. We have no laundry,” he replied dutifully ignoring her being a blatant asshole. “Is this secretly a cover-up for an underground gambling club or something? That would be sweet.” 

Arya rolled her eyes and reached out for his hand to tug him behind her, keeping him close instead of the excitable dog he currently was as he stared at the store front. There was only one other person inside, an older woman slowly moving her clothes from the washer to the dryer. Gendry’s hand stayed firmly in her own as they walked to the back of the room and she knocked on the door that said Employee’s Only. 

“Come in!” came the reply, and Arya shrugged the door open. 

The backroom was the combination of an office and a living room. Long and narrow, with a desk at the far end, and a couch with a coffee table nearer the door. There was a mini-fridge against one wall, and the screens near the desk showcased the laundromat through the lens of security cameras. 

At the desk sat Syrio. Arya waved. Gendry looked like he wasn’t sure what to do with himself. 

“Hi Syrio,” Arya said with a smile. “I brought Gendry. Do you have pie today?” 

“I always have pie for you. That one? Not so sure,” he replied as he finally stood up from his desk and walked over to the fridge. He pulled out a tupperware container with a post-it note attached on the top. Arya reached out for it. Syrio pulled it back. “Who is he?” 

“Gendry. He’s in Sansa’s band. He’s taking the Arya Stark Insomnia Tour tonight.” 

Syrio tilted his head, face unreadable, as he eyed Gendry up and down. “The tour doesn’t normally have guests.” 

“He’s special. Who knew,” Arya replied, eyes darting between the two. “Syrio don’t be weird.” 

“I’m never weird,” he replied. 

“One time you picked me up from school but never actually stopped the car, making me jump to get in, because you thought we’d be late for the boxing match you were taking me to.” 

“Were we late?” he asked, raising a brow. 

“Oh my god, I can not with you. I was going to be  _ civil,  _ maybe talk to you, but now you’re being a freak so I’m stealing the pie and getting out of here. Enjoy your night.” Arya reached forward and tugged the pie right out of his hands, turning around and physically pushing Gendry out of the door. “Night!” she called over her shoulder.

Gendry didn’t speak until they were back out front, turning toward her with an amused expression. “ _ That  _ was weird.” 

Arya rolled her eyes. “Come on. You’ll thank me later.” 

* * *

The park they rolled up to was small and at the top of the hill. There were two looping slides, a small sandbox, and a set of swings. It should be sort of sad, but it was clean enough that it looked more quaint than pathetic. Arya stopped the car and hopped out, but not before grabbing the pie and utensils. 

“This is the last stop,” she said with a sweep of her arms, twirling once— twice— before stopping to watch him take it all in. “The grand finale.” 

He didn’t look skeptical. He looked somewhat fond, and she realized after a beat he wasn’t taking in the park at all. He was taking  _ her  _ in. Eyes landing on her, sweeping, trying to see all of her. When he stepped closer, she couldn’t step away. She didn’t want to. 

“How many people do you take on the Arya Stark Insomnia Tour?” he asked. He stepped closer, only three or four away now. In the relative darkness, the sky only now beginning to lighten up around the edges, she could make out the strongest of his features. 

Her fingers itched to tug at the edges of him. To see how much his big, strong palms could hold and what it would be like to wrap her legs around his waist. What would it feel like to press her lips against his skin? What would it feel like to wake up next to him, to lie next to him, sweaty and satisfied and… 

They had two more hours, and she still needed to return him. 

“You’re the first,” she told him. He took a step closer. She couldn’t swallow or breathe or function. “So, if you mention me in the Yelp review it would be really helpful. Unless, of course, you have a negative comment, in which case I was  _ never  _ here.” 

He didn’t laugh, though his lips did tug up slightly at the corners. The last step. His palms were cupping her cheeks now, and really Arya was left wanting from that alone. From the feel of his palms holding her face like he knew how much she could give and how much she could take. 

“Does that mean I’m  _ special _ ?” he teased, faces too close for her to look at anything but the shape of his lips. 

“You’re a hot, dull, idiot,” she whispered back. “Who should kiss me already.” 

He didn’t need to be told again. His lips were on hers, hot and heady, and Arya felt like she could die right now and be happy. He was intoxicating. Watching him on stage had already been, but now she was getting it straight from the bottle. She wrapped her arms around his neck and tugged herself as close as she could. It was hard with the height difference, but she certainly wasn’t going to let that stop her. 

They were clamoring for each other, trying to get closer, and it wasn’t  _ enough.  _ Arya wanted everything, every last inch, and there wasn’t the  _ time.  _

“Fuck,” she muttered as she pulled back, her free hand coming immediately to her lips. “You almost made me drop the pie.” 

He chuckled, eyes awash in the new morning light and Arya Stark, and leaned forward to pop a kiss on her lips again. “To the swings?” he asked. 

She nodded, unsure what else there was to say. 

The sky was streaked with oranges and reds like a child finger painting, the colors bright and vibrant but wild. They held the pie between them, both sitting straddled on the swing seats as they took bites. 

“This is amazing,” Gendry said after his first few bites. “Syrio made this?” 

Arya nodded. “He has the weirdest knack for it. All the regulars at the laundromat know he always has experimental pies or bakes. Even all the way back to being my boxing coach he’d bring in special treats when I’d won something.” 

Gendry shook his head. “It’s like you know this strange, secret layer of the world.” 

The sun finally peeked further above the skyline, bringing an added exuberance to the colors of light spreading across their faces. Arya tossed the empty tupperware to the ground and flipped in her seat to be straight, pushing off the ground and pumping her legs. She didn’t turn to the side, but she could hear Gendry grunt as he resituated himself. 

“You sure you don’t want to be a roadie?” Gendry asked. 

Arya turned and looked at his face, which was screwed up in concentration. That familiar peek of tongue at the corner of his mouth as he pumped his legs to swing. The fondness that twisted in her chest was too bright and too painful to balance. 

“I’d be too anxious on the tour bus,” Arya answered, having to call slightly to make sure he could hear over her quick swings back and forth. “Could you imagine me pacing? It would drive everyone insane. Also, no high places to jump off from. What would I do?” 

“All this talk of jumping from high places and yet no proof.” 

Arya laughed, pumping her legs furiously for another beat before waiting, waiting, right at the peak and jumping from the highest place of the swing. When she hit the ground she tried to roll, though she was going much faster than she anticipated and mostly fell into an indelicate clump. She laughed again, not worrying about the skid on her knee or the loss of breath. 

Gendry appeared above her, a little breathless. “You’re insane.” 

“I prefer interesting.” She patted the mix of dirt and wood chips beside her. “Come on, Gendry. We’re done to the wire.” 

He groaned but came down to the ground beside her, laying on his back and staring up at the sky. Arya took his hand, and he squeezed back. 

“What was the best part of the night?” Arya asked. 

Gendry leaned over and kissed her, fingers dipping into her hair and lips soft. He took his time, slow and soft, and Arya melted into it. “That,” he whispered, face still near her own. 

“That was the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” she whispered back, shaking her head, but her free hand was coming to the back of his head and tugging it close again. She bit his lower lip, sucking it between her teeth, and kissed him with everything she had. 

Finally their interlaced hands broke apart, mostly so Gendry could hold himself above her. He slotted himself between her legs and held his hands on either side of her head, dipping close to kiss her neck and the spot by her ear and back to her lips, always back to the lips. 

Arya’s hands snuck beneath the hem of his shirt, though it meant untucking it, mostly because the thought of not getting to touch his bare skin in this way before he left for months hit her in the gut. It was smoother than she would have thought, and he was more ripped than she’d expected, and  _ what the fuck.  _ Why didn’t she sleep with Gendry right away when she had the chance? She wanted more, more,  _ more.  _

His phone blared, and the two pulled back from one another. 

“Fuck,” he hissed, reaching in his back pocket. He showed her the screen. 

_ Say goodbye to the pretty girl. Time for tour.  _

“You set an alarm?” she asked. “You set an alarm and named it that? You absolute sap.” 

He shrugged, but he happily reached forward to kiss her again. When he pulled back he paused for a moment with his forehead against her own. “I don’t want to leave.” 

“I don’t want you too, either.” It felt like a big thing for her to admit, somehow. Real and profound, but somehow not heavy. It only made her feel lighter to let it off her chest. 

And that was something magical about Gendry. Usually, when Arya released the weird thoughts in her head or the traumatic past it was like there was an ugly creature now in the room that was an extension of herself. She felt embarrassed and awkward. As if she had put a burden on the other person. With Gendry it somehow made her feel lighter, more herself. It was barley hard at all. 

They hadn’t even spent a whole day together. Arya already mourned the loss of him. 

“Probably for the best,” Arya said. “I have a feeling having sex in a park is against some sort of moral law.”

“Also just… laws. State laws,” he replied. He pushed back up to his feet, wiping the dirt from his hands and the knees of his pants. Then he held out his hands for her to take. 

She took them.

* * *

Arya leaned her back against the side of her car, hands tucked in her pockets, as Gendry stood in front of her. His hair was mused, and his eyes surrounded with a ring of gray, but the eyes themselves were still exuberant. 

“I’ll see you soon?” Gendry asked. 

Arya could see Sansa and Theon near the bus a few feet away. She could see Jon and Robb arguing over how to pack their equipment in. It should feel weird to be here, her family nearby, and have Gendry be the one she said the longest goodbye to. 

Pulling her hands from her pockets, she yanked on his shirt and pulled him in. She kissed his lips sweetly, despite the harsh entrance, and tried to say her answer.

Just in case it didn’t work, she said it aloud, too. “Very soon. I’ve always wanted to go to Chicago… maybe I’ll be there.” 

“Or Florida? Sneak off to Disney World?” he suggested with a wiggle of his brows. “You seem like you’d like rollercoasters.” 

“Gendry! Time to go,” Sansa called, waving over to him. “Say goodbye to my lovely sister and get your ass on this bus.” 

Arya reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. She kissed him one last time (but not for the  _ last  _ time, it was an important distinction), and stepped back. 

“Bye.” She waved. 

He shook his head, like a man in awe, and stepped back. “You have been… the best surprise.” 

Arya flicked him off, because while she felt comfortable with Gendry it was still  _ intimate,  _ it was still  _ strange _ , and he laughed over his shoulder as he walked back to the bus, tossing her his own middle finger. 

She got in her car, but she waited for the bus to leave. She watched it until it turned out of sight, and then she finally put her own key in the ignition. 

* * *

**ARYA: ** Heard your new song. who KNEW my bf was a lyricist

**GENDRY** : oh boyfriend was it

**ARYA** : ur mistaken. I was obviously saying best friend. Boyfriends are icky

**GENDRY** : i’m telling sansa you said that i’m your best friend

**ARYA** : DON’T YOU DARE. I WILL BREAK UP WITH YOU

**GENDRY** : ah HA knew we were dating

**ARYA** : I came to compliment you. Which is highly out of character, and you're making me talk about  _ feelings  _ and  _ labels  _ why do you hate me

**GENDRY** : I actually like… love you but go off I guess

**ARYA** : sliiiiiiiding right by the L word let us talk about your song

**GENDRY** : Can’t wait for our wedding. Fall sounds nice, right?

**ARYA** : UR NEW SONG PLS

**GENDRY** : thank you i was inspired. 

**ARYA** : One minute too short. I wonder what that song… could possibly… be about

**GENDRY** :  ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

**ARYA** : “a minute slips by so fast… what I would do with one minute more”

Gendry. I feel like you should give yourself more credit. You could definitely last longer than a minute. 

**GENDRY** : You complimented me just to make that joke didn’t you. 

**ARYA** : Do you still love me?????????

**GENDRY** : guess we’ll see in chicago

**ARYA** : will we see how many minutes too short we were too???? :P

**GENDRY** : one track mind

**ARYA** : so is that a no

**GENDRY** : I would rather set myself on fire than say no to that offer

How will I survive the next two weeks

**ARYA** : I’ve found talking to Theon is the best birth control I know

**GENDRY** : oh baby you already want KIDS you move so fast i–

**ARYA** : I am done with you. Please let me be. Arya is no longer here. RIP.

**GENDRY** : xxxx see u soon babe

**ARYA** : miss you (just don’t tell anyone I said that I have a rep to maintain) xoxo. See you soon

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr at: [anniebibananie](http://anniebibananie.tumblr.com/)


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